We already know that tortilla chips – aka the optimal vehicle for devouring all that delicious, delicious guacamole – are perfect. But now, thanks to a bizarre incident, we also know they’re highly combustible.
Last week, the Austin Fire Department headed to a company’s factory in South Austin, where chip residue had spontaneously combusted. When firefighters arrived, they put out chip waste that caught on fire as they responded to the call. Three days later, the AFD returned as another blaze broke out when the chips were sitting under the sun. The second time, they doused the remaining boxes to keep it from burning once again.
The department said the fire happened because the company was trying a new method. “The factory in question was trying out a new way to handle the waste from the chips that, suffice it to say, didn’t work out so well,” the AFD wrote on Facebook. “The fire was confined to the exterior of the building and to multiple pallets of food waste, but large cardboard boxes of the same waste continued to ignite while we were on scene!.. Thankfully, there were no damages in either case since the fires were on the outside of the building and involved only food waste.”